HOT

Indian summer...hurrrrumph....try being pregnant

or a cat..

Always a favourite...

Birth plan

*WRITTEN*

Thirty.Five.Weeks.

Today I am thirty five weeks pregnant. Little B is about 46cm long and possibly a little more because he is inheriting Daddy's long legs :) he weighs approximately 5 and a half pounds and when he stretches I can feel distinct body parts through my bump.

From here I have five weeks until my due date and only two weeks until I am classed as full term.

Packing

This evening we packed mine and Little b's bags for hospital

Boo say's "I'm helping Daddy!!!"

Jon McBoing Boing!

I like birthing ball.

*B*O*I*N*G*

Super scan and Organic House

This morning we had what I think will be my final ultrasound scan at Valley Medical in Hebden Bridge. The sonographer was lovely, a real credit to the profession and went the extra mile - zooming in close to show us little b's face. We saw his eyes with delicate lids closed, tiny nose and mouth making little sucking motions. He also had his hand up in front of one side of his face and we could even see his tiny fingers. She took all the relevant measurements and checked his position (head down) the placenta - well out of the way and amniotic fluid - correct level. He is still perfect for dates and growing well, now slightly above the 50th percentile. All of this was such a welcome boost and happy relief as I tend to worry myself to a frazzle prior to a scan, and with yesterday being Mum's birthday I wasn't in the happiest place to begin with.

From the clinic we went to Organic House on Market Street

and sat in the window next to the most beautiful display of pumpkins - a reminder if ever one was needed of the onset of autumn and the fast approaching red letter day of Halloween.

We ordered a latte a piece and Jon was delighted to find they were serving home made yorkshire curd tart - a favourite from Betty's and I chose a small dense square of chocolate indulgence, sort of part brownie part tiffin.

And finally, I must put in a picture of Jon's lovely new boots. Whoever said brown shoes don't make it? Idiot.

Happy Birthday Mum

I miss you so much my darling Mum

I would give anything just to talk to you one more time

You should be here to meet your Grandson next month

How I wish you were here.

The Bear

We had a rare Sunday outing for coffee and cake and enjoyed some quiet time reading the papers. I had orange cake with chocolate icing (pictured) and it was possibly the nicest cake I've ever eaten. Jon had a coffee sponge with coffee icing and it too was very tasty, all their comestibles were home made and vegetarian and looked rustic and real, and I get the impression taste and quality are of the highest possible level here and we will definitely go back for more.

Boys on film

Tomatoes again...

We shared this enormous black russian split in half and grilled with salt and cracked black pepper and it tasted sweet and beautiful.

A bit of Kipling...

They shut the road through the woods

Seventy years ago.

Weather and rain have undone it again,

And now you would never know

There was once a road through the woods

Before they planted the trees.

It is underneath the coppice and heath,

And the thin anemones.

Only the keeper sees

That, where the ring-dove broods,

And the badgers roll at ease,

There was once a road through the woods.

Yet, if you enter the woods

Of a summer evening late,

When the night-air cools on the trout-ringed pools

Where the otter whistles his mate.

(They fear not men in the woods,

Because they see so few)

You will hear the beat of a horse's feet,

And the swish of a skirt in the dew,

Steadily cantering through

The misty solitudes,

As though they perfectly knew

The old lost road through the woods….

But there is no road through the woods.

Meh...

Endless heartburn and the inability to sleep more than an hour without needing a wee are turning me into...

The interrupted sleep plus anaemia are making me completely....

Oh, and if everything could just stop fucking breaking *that* would be stonking

******THANK YOU******

Art for Children's sake

Found these wonderful images by Holly Clifton-Brown - such perfectly kooky children's artwork, her newest book illustration is for 'Elephant White' whose publication I eagerly await.

Antenatal

We had a FOUR HOUR session on Saturday afternoon which nearly finished both of us off and had to be remedied with a chippy tea tout suite as soon as the class ended.

What did I learn?

I definitely don't want pethidine.

Having an epidural is not betraying the sisterhood

If possible I definitely do want to use the birthing pool

What else?

Dream feeding is a good idea and will keep baby more settled

Let Jon take B to give me a sleep break if feeding is hard

Don't give up

Anything more?

Four hours is a long time for a pregnant woman to sit in an uncomfortable chair

Tomatoes

Ripen, Ripen, Ripen....